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Roneo Duplicating Press

Another ebay acquistion, this is a Roneo duplicator hailing from the early 20th C. The first Roneo was patented in 1906, so this one may be from the mid teens, I’m engaged in some crazy Googling to try and get a more specific date than this. The Early Office Museum site, says of these copiers:

“In 1906 the Roneo Co. introduced the Roneo Copier, a “dry” copying machine that made copies on a paper roll impregnated with a glycerin solution that kept the paper uniformly moist for several months. Copies were made on the roll, which was then cut and dried to yield individual copies.”

This one comes with the box, and apparently the original inking cloth. I’m imagining the glycerin solution will have fully dried out by now, but I might try and resurrect it.

I’m tempted to take the Roneo in to uni and set it up next to the Ricoh copier…